A fresh amendment to the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act to ban the Jamaat-e-Islami and try it as a party for war crimes has been finalised by the law ministry, and it will be placed before Parliament soon after getting the Cabinet's approval. The law ministry is now busy enacting a new law to confiscate properties of convicted war criminals, sources said.  
Law minister Anisul Huq said after the Cabinet Division's approval, a bill would be placed very soon at the House to ban the Jamaat and try it as a party.
He also said that the Jamaat can be banned through two ways—either by an executive order or by the court. "Though the High Court (HC) had declared the Jamaat’s registration illegal, the matter still remains sub-judice at the Appellate Division. Hence, I won't make any comment in this regard. But we've finalised an amendment to ban the Jamaat and try it as a party," the minister added. Attorney general Mahbubey Alam told this correspondent that the government can ban the Jamaat any time through an executive order or by enacting a law.
“Although there is a case relating to Jamaat’s registration pending before the Supreme Court (SC), the government can independently issue an executive order to ban the organisation,” he said. The chief law officer of the state made these observations while talking to The Independent. In response to a query, Alam said the HC had declared the Jamaat's registration illegal, following a writ petition filed by a person seeking the HC’s directive on the matter. He also said the Jamaat moved the apex court for staying the HC order. But the chamber judge of the Appellate Division did not stay the HC order, which means that the HC order has been upheld, he added.
The attorney general said the executive order will not affect the court order as the law will take its own course. The executive order will be implemented independently as per the government’s directive, he added. Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, secretary general of the Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, and 24 others had filed a writ petition on January 25, 2009, with the HC, challenging the legality of Jamaat’s registration. In the petition, they said the Jamaat-e-Islami was a religion-based political party and it did not believe in independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh.
On August 1, 2013, the HC declared the Jamaat’s registration with the Election Commission (EC) illegal.
On December 12, 2013, the Jamaat filed an appeal before the Appellate Division of the SC, seeking a stay order against the HC verdict that declared the party’s registration illegal. But the chamber judge did not pass any stay order and sent the matter to the Appellate Division for hearing. The apex court is yet to start a hearing on the appeal.
Founded by Abul Ala Moududi in 1941, Jamaat was banned twice during the Pakistani era in 1959 and 1964 for its communal role. It got banned again just after Independence in 1971, but was allowed to return to politics after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.